Rabbit goes for a swim, struggles to get out

A rabbit rescued by Procyon Wildlife. (Procyon Wildlife/Facebook)

A young rabbit looking to cool off found itself in a pool for a little bit longer than it anticipated.

The rabbit was floating around in a pool in Barrie on June 15, lying on its side barely breathing trying to catch its breath after having nearly drowned.

Luckily, Procyon Wildlife in Beeton came to the rescue. A community member used a pool net to get the cottontail out of the backyard swimming pool and drove him to the wildlife centre where staff gave him the treatment he needed.

The wildlife centre says when the received him, they placed him in an incubator and gave him oxygen and monitored his lungs.

Fortunately, the rabbit made a full recovery and Procyon said staff were able to release him in less than a week.

To save wildlife from getting stuck in your backyard pool, Procyon recommends pool owners get a pool escape ramp. It’s a contraption that has a landing pad with a ramp leading up to the pool deck so if an animal happens to go for a dip, it can escape easily.